The recent update ("Refinery status: Monroe Energy to break even," March 6) on the Monroe Energy refinery's recovery from Superstorm Sandy-related disruptions concluded with the observation by parent company Delta Air Lines president Ed Bastian: "Running an oil refinery, much like running an airline, is not for the faint of heart."

But the climate change-related disruption that is increasingly causing business interruptions all across the country is due largely to the buildup of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere from burning his product and other fossil fuels.

The answer isn't just for businesses to tough it out as impacts of climate-change continue to mount. The severe droughts and catastrophic wildfires of 2013 as well as Sandy affected the lives and livelihoods of many Americans and gave us plenty of irrefutable evidence that we need to move our economy as fast as possible to clean renewable sources of energy, reduce carbon emissions, and prevent the most extreme climate disruption effects. Much can and is being done locally to embrace clean alternatives, and many states, regrettably not our own, are spurring the transition to clean energy.

But if he is to keep his word to the American people to move the country forward on climate, President Obama must use the very substantial levers at his disposal. He should start by saying no to the disastrous Keystone XL pipeline, a project that invites America to open our heartland so Canada can expand dramatically its production of dirty tar sands oil and ship it to overseas markets. The fact is our children's future can't afford it.